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eBay Wants Voice Phone Free In Five Years

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the well-sure-don't-we-all dept.

kmk writes "In a few short years, users can expect to make telephone calls for free, with no per-minute charges, as part of a package of services through which carriers make money on advertising or transaction fees, eBay's chief executive said on Wednesday."

15 of 185 comments (clear)

  1. Ads? by elbenito69 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I would much rather pay for phone service than to put up with ads on the telephone, of all places.

    1. Re:Ads? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not to worry. Following TV and cable, you WILL pay and also have to listen to the ads.

    2. Re:Ads? by ScoLgo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "Not to worry. Following TV and cable, you WILL pay and also have to listen to the ads."

      I gotta agree with this sentiment. It's inevitable that advertising will try to worm its way into every possible medium. This is why I subscribed to Sirius satellite radio now - while it's still mostly ad-free. Once the full-on advertising kicks in, (a la cable tv), I'll be cancelling my subscription.

      --
      "Michael, I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing - and it was everything that I thought it could be."
    3. Re:Ads? by Jonathan+the+Nerd · · Score: 5, Insightful
      It's inevitable that advertising will try to worm its way into every possible medium.

      Leela: "Didn't you have ads in the twentieth century?"

      Fry: "Well, sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio...and in magazines...and movies, and at ballgames, and on buses, and milk cartons, and T-shirts, and bananas, and written in the sky. But not in dreams, no sirree."

      --
      Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are not necessarily my own, as I've not yet had my medication today.
  2. As long as... by GeneralEmergency · · Score: 5, Insightful


    ...the FBI has to watch/hear the same advertising that I have to suffer through because of the FCC mandated CALEA IP-taps!

    Sorry, I'm cranky today.

    --
    "A microprocessor... is a terrible thing to waste." --
    GeneralEmergency
  3. Re:Face it, stupid telecom/media companies.. by DaHat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Isn't that much the same logic that lead to the .com bust? Lots of companies eating lots of money and not actually making any? Nice and idealistic concepts my friend... but still awful naive.

    --
    Help Brendan pay off his student loans
  4. So, how's ebay gonna profit from this? by Arpie · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Really just plain ads?

    Or will they take advantage of the new mandatory wiretapping laws, and have automated systems that scan your conversation for keywords and give you related ads?

    Sort of like Google adsense, but with voice content...

    I for one do not welcome our new phone tapping overlords...

    --
    /* TAANSTAFL */
  5. eBay and phones? by krunoce · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Is it just me or is this like Microsoft going into the car business?

  6. Re:Not as far as I can tell by scdeimos · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Yes, they're going to Skype but from TFA you must have missed this:
    The chairman and chief executive of the world's largest online auction site said the transition to completely free voice communications will not happen in the next year or two, but that could happen in the next three to six years.
    I expect that revenue will be raised by advertising, not through the audio channel, but through banner (or pop-up) ads in the Skype client.
  7. No thanks. I'd rather pay. by Ssolstice · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'd rather pay for a service that is free from advertisements than get a free service that I can't use when I want to. Most of those "free services" require you to sit through ads before you can use them, such as many website video streams. My time is not free.

  8. Re:Wal-Mart LD card charges AND gives me an ad by RicktheBrick · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A penny a minute with a $.49 connection charge, so if one gets an answering machine and talk 2 minutes than the charge is $.51 or $.25 a minute. Even at 100 minutes the correct charge is $.0149 a minute. So unless one likes to make very long talks than it is more expensive than charging a nickel a minute without the connect charge.

  9. Re:Face it, stupid telecom/media companies.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful
    I don't know where to start with this guy, so I'll just say this:
    This is a capitalist economy - no matter what, SOMEONE will be making money and someone will be losing it.
    This statement is absolutely true. It also invalidates everything else he says. If money is always changing hands for any given product or service, then nothing is free.
  10. Re:Communication pricing structure outdated? by xwizbt · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So tell us who. I had moderator privileges, I was going to up you, but there's a distinct lack of information. Give us more and we up you more... what UK companies?

  11. Free ? by jeriqo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Do they mean free international phone calls ?
    I already can call by phone for free in my country.

    --
    Alexis 'jeriqo' BRET
  12. Subject by Legion303 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "carriers make money on advertising or transaction fees"

    This is kind of vague, and the article goes into zero detail.

    So per-minute charges will disappear, but I'll have to pay everytime I connect to someone else's phone? That's what that says to me.

    As for advertising, I'd rather just keep taking it in the ass each month from Qworst than listen to one second of some asshole telling me how his company makes the world better by selling me shit I don't want.